More Canadian snowbirds are selling their recreational properties in the U.S. and purchasing second homes in Canada or other countries amid tense relations between the two countries, according to multiple reports.

Snowbirds refer to Canadians who reside for several months each year in warm, mostly U.S., locations.

Reuters reported that the number of snowbirds selling their second homes in Florida and Arizona surged in the spring as many of the Canadians opposed the chilling relations. The two states have enjoyed strong demand for decades from Snowbirds who feel colder climes at home for the warm-weather locations.

U.S. real estate agents told Reuters that more Canadians are divesting their properties, resulting in softer prices.

According to National Association of Realtors, Canadians invested about US$6 billion in American residential real estate between April 2023 and March 2024, comprising 13% of all foreign transactions. Almost half of the Canadian-purchased homes were for vacation purposes, with Florida, Arizona and Hawaii the most coveted markets.

But Snowbirds have become upset with the U.S. government’s restrictions on them. The Canadian Snowbird Association says it strongly opposes U.S. requirements for non-immigrant Canadian tourists and business travellers to register at a port of entry if they will stay intend to stay south of the border for more than 30 days.

Snowbirds typically spend a number of months in the U.S., sometimes only coming home to comply with Canadian residency requirements.

Canadians generally do not require visas to enter the U.S. and are allowed to stay up to six months less a day, the CSA noted, calling the registration requirement “unnecessary.” The new rules also require Canadians to be fingerprinted if they plan to stay stateside longer than one month.

Alberta residents Tracy and Dale McMullen told Reuters that they decided to sell their recreational property in Buckeye, Ariz., after five years of ownership, once U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.

“It was time to leave,” Dale McMullen told Reuters. “We felt we could not trust what he might do next to us as individuals and to our country. We no longer felt welcome nor safe.”

Canadians have objected to Trump’s high tariffs and repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st American state.

Laurie Lavine, an Arizona realtor sell their second home, told Reuters that he had several listings from Canadians looking to sell, compared with the usual maximum of four per quarter.

According to a Leger survey commissioned by the Association for Canadian Studies, 52% of respondents no longer think Canadians can travel safely to the U.S., while 54% said they did not feel welcome there.

Canadians are no longer selling their U.S. homes primarily due to prices, the foreign-exchange rate and tax implications, Jack Jedwab, president and CEO of the ACS told The Globe and Mail. They’re also concluding that U.S. border security is too intrusive and becoming an obstacle.

“So, if you’re not going to be travelling there as much, you’re probably going to be disinclined to hang on to your property there,” he told the Globe.

The Snowbirds’ disdain has raised the hopes of towns in the B.C. Interior looking for more Canadians to buy second homes there, the Globe reported.

Cameron Kimball, an American expat based in Los Cabos, Mexico, is vice-president for the new ultra-luxury Residences at the St. Regis, at the tip of the Baja Peninsula.

He told that more Canadians are purchasing units priced between $3 million and $15 million.

“Everybody’s got their own reasons, but we’ve definitely seen an uptick in interest from Canadians, even though we already had a fair number of Canadians coming,” he told the Globe, adding that many Snowbirds are bringing their money from U.S. home sales to Mexico.

Citing a Leger report commissioned by Re/Max, the Globe reported that the small Okanagan Valley town of Summerland, B.C., saw an 11.4% year-over-year price gain for the average secondary home price. In another Okanagan town, Osoyoos, B.C., secondary home prices jumped 13.5% on average between 2024 and 2025. Meanwhile, Whistler, B.C., a long-time haven for international property owners, saw 13.5% year-over-year rise.

Kingsley Ma, a Vancouver-based Re/Max agent, feels that this is a good time for Canadians to buy secondary homes, due to lower interest rates, if prospective purchases feel confident about retaining their employment earnings and other money amid economic uncertainty.

“I think there are going to be a good amount of Canadians that will sell their property in the States [and buy in Canada], or at least they are wanting to,” Ma told the Globe. “The challenge is that depending on the state that they are in, there’s a huge withholding tax to it.”

Fatima Malik, a global real estate advisor for Engst & Volkers in Beverly Hills, Calif., that many Canadians selling California properties are looking for buying opportunities in such countries as Portugal and France, along with Mexico.

Pictured: Condominium complex in Phoenix.

Photo: Realtor.com

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